Chicken Squisher

I led the design and engineering of the game, mapped out all of its features and then planning for the development associated with it. Worked closely with production for the schedule and deadlines, generating the necessary tasks for engineering and art.

In some ways I walked the line between Game Designer and Product Manager. As a designer I wanted to create a good product that lived up to be a satire. On the other hand, it quickly became about finding ways to understand and guide players to maximize interest in specific elements for the purpose of success.

Oh, I also coded the whole thing. Definitely pushed my knowledge of Flash a significant amount and I learned a great deal more than I have in recent years. I loved the opportunity to try and deal with so many elements.

Various types of features and game mechanics were developed. Ranging from the primary mechanic of squishing you and your friend's chickens, to engaging in various mini-games with your chickens, and creating your own custom chickens that can be shared and sold in-game.

There were a number of revisions for the interface. A lot of planning and maximizing our space to make sure the player would go to what we want, easily remember how to get what information they need, and not overwhelm them with too much information.

It also involved a lot of going into Flash and setting up assets while having to speak with artists on getting everything setup.

One of the largest points had to become the chickens. We went through quite a few concepts and used community input to finally settle on the base design we went with to bring a strong sense of humor, while still giving the player a chicken to squish. Since then, it's all been history.

I came up with some of the initial concept ideas for chicken types, and worked with artists to bring those chickens to life. Working with an editor we put together, I've also been making a few personal custom ones that we then made available.

Developed presentations to showcase progress and plans to interested parties and for pitching the game features. These were shown to potential developers, players, and investors.

Planned out several event releases and programs for updating the game. Worked with artists on best ways to capture new items, and engineered special features. Then handled social and viral marketing campaigns for them.

Collaborated with other teams in the studio to share publicity and marketing. Presented our projects together for shared building of support and community.

KEEP CALM & SQUISH CHICKENS

Developed a poster series for the game, banking off of current trends and visual interests for targeted demographics. The intention was to integrate the IP directly into the internet audience interests, showing awareness of itself rather than as a separate entity.

Expanding further, I took advantage of existing meme trends and modified visuals within them related to Chicken Squisher. The memes were virally spread, allowing them to evolve naturally and lead to others creating their own memes, furthering their spread.

Several of the posters and memes were printed for marketing and networking events. Setup games and prizes to draw in others and spread interest in the product. In an effort to try different ways of advertising I made a few different memes that could be spread around on the internet. Some of these are also part of a potential plan to release with items on CafePress.

Part of this included the creation of a squishy, plushy chicken toy. It acted as a mascot to spread around and have its own adventures via photographs. Speech was to spread the chicken madness across the globe.

Created online ads that were interactive and provided clues to unlock features within the game. Ads were linked to provide a scavenger hunt sort of game for users, taking them across the internet where above marketing elements were placed.